Madagascar Wildlife

Madagascar—an isolated island about twice the size of Arizona—has some of the highest biodiversity on the planet. Of roughly 200,000 known species found on Madagascar, about 150,000 are endemic—meaning they exist nowhere else. Unique to the island are more than 50 types of lemurs, 99 percent of its frog species, and 36 genera of birds. Madgascar houses 100 percent of the world's lemurs, half of its chameleon species, 6 percent of its frogs, and none of its toads. Some species found in Madagascar have their closest relatives not in Africa but in the South Pacific and South America.